Sikh Americans have been targeted for hate crimes and discrimination by those who wrongfully identify Sikh Americans – based on their appearance, specifically the turban and beard – as extremists. This misconception has had horrific consequences. For example, immediately following the 9/11 attacks, hundreds of hate crimes were reported and countless others went unreported. On September 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh American gas station owner, was the first hate-crime death in the wave of post-9/11 backlash. He was tragically murdered outside of his gas station in Mesa, Arizona by a man who selected Mr. Sodhi as his victim because Mr. Sodhi had a beard and wore a turban.
Even now, Sikh Americans are still faced with threats to their safety and security in their own country. These incidents jeopardize the Sikh and Muslim American communities, as well as other targeted minority communities. In 2011, two innocent elderly Sikh American men, Gurmej Atwal and Surinder Singh, were shot and killed while taking their daily walk in Elk Grove, CA by yet to be identified assailants. This follows the hate crime conviction of two men in Sacramento, CA for their unprovoked assault on a Sikh American cab driver a year earlier. The Sikh American community continues to face serious challenges in the post 9-11 era. To address them, SALDEF has pioneered several initiatives aimed at internal and external educational outreach.
When global humanitarian Ravi Singh’s account was blocked on Instagram at the height of the pandemic, he was only one of many Sikh voices that continue to be silenced to this day. At SALDEF, we know fighting oppression doesn’t start and end online. That’s why we also committed to taking the fight on the ground – from leveraging our relationships with the government and technology leaders to advance specific policy recommendations to collecting incidents of social media censorship to create a database and understand the scope of the issue. As the nation’s oldest advocacy organization seeking to protect Sikhs and the Sikh identity from prejudice and hate, we are also committed to fighting for the civil rights of Sikhs in the digital world.
When #Sikh was banned worldwide, SALDEF conducted extensive research exploring the persistent censorship of Sikhs worldwide by social media platforms. Citing specific case studies, SALDEF began to compile a report that offers a set of four policy recommendations for mitigating censorship of our community.
SALDEF organized the first Know Your Rights Forum in 2002. Since then, we have
organized forums in over 15 cities across the country and educated countless Sikh
Americans about their rights. These forums bring together representatives of law
enforcement agencies, employment agencies and public school administrations with
local communities to foster increased dialogue and collaboration between the
groups. The purpose of the Know Your Rights Forum is to introduce community
members to agencies and groups that can address complaints, incidents, or issues; and
provide local, state and federal governmental agencies the opportunity to build
relationships with and address the specific needs of their local Sikh American
community.
The 2022 SALDEF Sikh American Health Survey is the first survey dedicated to understanding the health of the Sikh American community in the United States and assessing the community’s barriers to accessing proper healthcare. The survey will collect information about demographics, health conditions, diet, exercise, mental health, and potential barriers to accessing healthcare faced by the Sikh American community.
SALDEF is conducting this health assessment care-oriented dataset of the community to inform interventions to address healthcare gaps faced by our community. The survey will provide an accurate profile of health conditions and healthcare challenges within the Sikh American community in the United States. The data will also serve as a resource for the Sikh community, healthcare research, hospital systems, education institutions, the government, and private and nonprofit healthcare institutions.
SALDEF encourages civic participation, including providing access to information about voting to Sikh Americans at Gurdwaras and other community centers. In addition to voter engagement, SikhVOTE provides voting information to these community centers and ensures that Sikh Americans have up-to-date information regarding voting rights and regulations. To maximize our reach, we encourage Punjabi-speaking households to provide this essential information regarding citizenship and voting rights.
Disclaimer: SikhVOTE is a non-partisan, non-profit voter registration and engagement program of SALDEF. It is not supported by, conducted in coordination with, or support of any candidate or candidate’s committee. Sikh VOTE is supported by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote.